The present invention generally relates to devices used in electrical wiring in the residential and commercial development contexts, and it is specifically directed to a modular junction box device that can house a significant number of ports that each contain at least three electrically-conductive connector clips that facilitate quick, push-in electrical connection of the hot, neutral and ground wires within a supply wire cable leading from a power source with the corresponding distribution wires leading to each of any number of external electrical devices (which, hereinafter, may be referred to as “powered devices”). Even more specifically, it is directed to such a modular junction box housing having a suitable number of ports, or sub-housings within which at least three of those push-in wire connector clips are enclosed, host plug-in connection of the multiple wires of the supply wire cable leading from a power source into one port and host plug-in connection of the multiple wires of the distribution wire cable leading to each powered device into each of another port(s), where each such connector clip is also conductively connected to a loop of hot, neutral or ground wire contained within the junction box housing.
The simple nature of the quick, push-in circuit completion between a breaker panel and an electrical device (e.g., appliance, switch, dimmer, etc.) enabled by the present invention eliminates the need to, among other things, twist exposed wires together and apply either wire nuts, electrical tape, solder or twist-on caps to secure those electrical connections within a housing. Typically, no more than four wires can be joined together under one twist-on cap. In fact, joining together three or more wires under one cap can, possibly, break a joined wire and result in loss of current at an outlet, light or other powered device. And tracing such a break in such a wiring joining is very time consuming and difficult.
“Junction boxes,” or housings within which electrical connections are made between power sources and electrical devices, are well-known in the prior art. Historically and generally speaking, these housings have featured ports through which entry wires from a breaker panel are inserted and secured either directly to the corresponding wires of multiple electrical devices or to that of intervening wires which are, in turn, also secured to those wires leading to electrical devices. More pertinently, those connections have been secured by virtue of an electrician having to take the numerous and tedious steps of: (1) pulling supply wire cable from the breaker panel to the location of the opened junction box; (2) removing several inches of the sheath and insulation from the ends of the supply cable to expose its internal wires (for example, if using ROMEX 12-2 cable, removing the cable's outer sheath as well as the insulation surrounding the black and white wires to expose those two current-carrying wires along with the bare ground wire); (3) similarly removing sheathing and insulation from each cable leading to an electrical device; (4) inserting those exposed wires into the junction box; (5) grouping and twisting together all of the black wires (from the supply cable and the one or more device cables); (6) applying a wire nut and electrical tape or solder or twist-on cap around the twisted black wires to secure that connection; (7) grouping and twisting together all of the white wires (from the supply cable and the one or more device cables); (8) applying a wire nut and electrical tape or solder or twist-on cap around the twisted white wires to secure that connection; (9) grouping and twisting together all of the ground wires (from the supply cable and the one or more device cables); (10) pressing all such connected wiring (the volume of which is proportionate to the number of electrical device that are to be connected) inside of the junction box—typically, in at least somewhat tangled and disorderly fashion; and (12) applying a cover to or otherwise closing the junction box.
The foregoing steps take a substantial amount of time to complete, which can be quite expensive considering the hourly labor rates typically charged by skilled electricians. Moreover, splicing wires together in the foregoing fashion creates the risk that conductive material of the wires will be left exposed and, eventually, cause a short circuit or even a fire. Even further still, the more electrical connections that need to be made within a single junction box (i.e., the more electrical devices, or “powered devices,” that need to be electrically connected to a power source), the more connecting wires that need to be stuffed into the box enclosure—which, at some point, either lends to a wiring mess or necessitates a physically larger box enclosure.
Consequently, the present inventor appreciates a need for a new junction box device that:                (1) renders unnecessary the expertise ordinarily required to manually splice the corresponding wires of a power supply and a powered device and, then, stuff them inside of a box enclosure in tight proximity (and, instead, permits a total novice to effectively make the same electrical connections);        (2) eliminates the potential hazard associated with such an arrangement;        (3) reduces the volume of wiring and the corresponding potential for disorganization of wires disposed within the junction box by altering the proportionality relationship between: (a) the number of electrical connections to be made within a single junction box and (b) the corresponding number of wires running within that enclosure. Instead, there is a need for a new junction box device that can contain a static number of wires situated within it, even while the number of wire cables that are electrically connected via that junction box may multiply—thereby, dramatically reducing the labor that would, otherwise, be necessary when an electrical device needs to be connected to or disconnected from the junction box and eliminating the need for a junction box housing to be physically larger in order to accommodate the wiring associated with facilitating more electrical connections.        
The present invention for a pre-wired junction box with quick-connect clip electrical wire connectors substantially fulfills these needs.